Garden

St. George banner of the Izhevsk division. Ural workers in Kolchak's army Votkinsk division

29.08.2020

The chains of bloody oppression are thrown off,

Together the enemy destroyed the people,

And dashing work began to boil:

The worker came to life and the factory came to life.

Hammer abandoned, bayonets and grenades

Set in motion by a valiant hand,

What are not heroes and what are not soldiers

People going into battle with songs.

People in love with bright distances

People of perseverance, courage, labor,

People from ingots of iron and steel,

People whose name is "ore".

Who has not heard how he fought with enemies

Izhevsk regiment under bloody Ufa,

As with an accordionist he rushed to the attack,

Izhevets is a simple Russian worker.

The years will pass. In a free homeland

There will be many beautiful ballads,

But will not be forgotten in the folk song

Izhevets is a Russian worker-soldier.

The Izhevsk division was formed from the workers of the factory of the same name, who rebelled against the Bolsheviks in August 1918. In addition to the Izhevsk workers, the workers of the neighboring Votkinsk plant also rebelled against the Bolsheviks, who formed a separate Votkinsk division.

Later, the workers of both factories were brought together in a special Izhevsk-Votkinsk brigade.

The uniform colors of Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents were blue (a symbol of connection with their factories - iron and steel) and white (the color of the White Movement).

These units were distinguished by a very high combat capability. Contemporaries described the crushing attacks of the Izhevsk workers as follows: “They did not recognize the bayonet, and when the moment of hand-to-hand combat came, they threw their rifle on a belt behind their back and took out their long working knives. According to numerous eyewitnesses of these decisive moments of the attack, the Reds could not withstand one kind of this manipulation and took to flight in order to avoid hand-to-hand combat with such a determined enemy. It is interesting to note here that the Izhevsk and Votkinsk divisions remained invincible throughout the Civil War.(see Vorobyov A. Rebellion at the Izhevsk and Votkinsk plants in August 1919. - Sentry (Brussels), 1987, No. 663, p. 10).

We add that in the fall of 1919, the Supreme Ruler of Russia, Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak, granted the Izhevsk Division the honorary St. George banner - the highest collective award for military prowess. Currently, this banner is stored in the Irkutsk Museum of Local Lore.

Who opposed the Russian workers who rose up for their country against a handful of criminals who imagined themselves to be in power?

“In mid-August, in the Urals, in the industrial towns of Votkinsk and Izhevsk, none other than the workers themselves, the workers of state arms factories, rebelled against the “workers’ and peasants’” authorities. /.../ On the morning of August 7, armed with rifles captured at the factory, the Izhevsk people raised an uprising and entered into battle with the Red Army battalion and a detachment of Austrian internationalists. By evening, the Austrian internationalists were destroyed, and the remnants of the Red Army battalion fled the city.

The organizer of the uprising, non-commissioned officer Oskolkov, turned to the regiment located at that time in Izhevsk. D. I. Fedichkin to accept the Izhevsk Workers' Regiment under his command. August 15 Col. Fedichkin, having defeated the Red Army garrison in a short battle, captured the Galiany wharf and took control of the Kama, along which the Soviet flotilla cruised. The commander of the 2nd Soviet Army, Reinhold Berzin, sent a group of Soviet troops to the Galyan region, led by the Ufa Latvian battalion, numbering 500 riflemen and 30 cavalrymen with 26 machine guns. /…/ With a swift attack, the Latvians drove the Izhevsk out of Galyan on August 18 and, together with other red units, went on the offensive against Izhevsk. But before the commander of the Latvian battalion J. Reinfeld had time to throw his shooters to storm Izhevsk, a new enemy appeared in the rear of his group of troops. Workers in the nearby town of Sarapul, having arrested the entire Sarapul Soviet and local Chekists, formed an anti-Soviet detachment.

At the same time, the workers in the neighboring town of Votkinsk also revolted, who, under the command of Captain Yuryev, hit the flank of the Ufa Latvian battalion and forced it, along with other Red Army units, to retreat to the west.

At the news that the Latvian riflemen had arrived, the peasants left the villages and fled to the forest, because the rumor about their reprisals against the Yaroslavl rebels, about their adamant loyalty to Lenin, etc. reached these remote places/…/. This was repeated in every village /…/. Of course, the arrows did not kill all the inhabitants and did not burn all the villages, but it was enough that they shot the relatives of the peasants who had joined the rebellious workers. Otherwise, the peasants would not be hiding in the forests. The names of the commander of the 7th Bauska Lat. strl. the regiment of Manguls and the Latvian commander V. Azin, who perpetrated a bloody massacre in Votkinsk and Izhevsk, after being captured by the Reds, were pronounced here only with a curse.

October 7, 35 km from Votkinsk, 7th Bauska Lat. the rifle regiment and the Special Vyatka Division met with the Votkinsk detachments, commanded by Captain Yuryev. The battles were fierce and long, at first with varying success. But over time, well trained and having combat experience in the 1st World War, the Latvian riflemen, using detours from the flanks and attacking with concentrated forces, began to win victories. The overwhelming number of Votkinsk workers never served in the army, because, as employed in arms factories, they were exempted from military service; they did not have officers either - sergeants and non-commissioned officers commanded companies and platoons. But in courage and stamina they were not inferior to the arrows. The battle went on for more than a month, only sometimes dying down for a day or two.

At the same time, the 2nd Soviet consolidated division under the command of the old Latvian communist Valdemar Azin was advancing on Izhevsk. In the 247th regiment, which was part of this division, there were two Latvian companies. The regiment was commanded by J. Reinfeld, the former commander of the Ufa Latvian battalion defeated by the Izhevsk people. The regimental commissar was Reinberg; a detachment of mounted scouts was commanded by T. Kalnyn; 3rd battalion - his brother Zh. Kalnyn; machine gun team - Osis; the economic part is a communist since 1905. Kondrate. So although there were only two Latvian companies in the 247th regiment, command posts were mainly occupied by red Latvians. In the 2nd Soviet consolidated division there were also parts of the Hungarian internationalists.

On November 7, Divisional Commander V. Azin threw his division into the assault on Izhevsk. The alarm sounded in the city. The entire population rose to defend their native city. Izhevsk workers rushed to the counterattack, but in the first battle they lost over 800 killed. The battle lasted three days, but the Izhevsk people could not repulse the red regiments, abundantly supplied with machine guns and artillery. On November 9, Azin himself, on an armored train, rushed to break through the defense, mowing down the defenders of the city with machine guns. On November 10, under the cover of night, the workers' detachments, together with part of the population, left the city.

In the morning, divisional commander V. Azin proceeded to massacre the population remaining in Izhevsk. Relatives of recalcitrant workers, including old men and women, were shot on the very first day by order of V. Azin. The bloody Yaroslavl bath was repeated. For the capture of Izhevsk, V. Azin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

These two statements about the decisive role of the Lettish riflemen in the suppression of the Izhevsk uprising and their subsequent direct participation in the Red Terror remain a commonplace even in recent works on the uprising. So, in particular, A.A. Sheptalin claims that “The most loyal and combat-ready forces of the Red Army were thrown into the suppression of the uprising, half of which were “internationalists” distinguished by their cruelty - parts of the Latvian and Chinese shooters, as well as mercenaries from former prisoners of war of Hungarians, Austrians, Germans and Turks.” He is echoed by A.A. Petrov: “/…/ The Izhevsk workers had no choice but to launch a massive unarmed bayonet attack on the factory whistle on the morning of November 7th. /…/ Azin was saved from a completely unexpected and crushing defeat only by the steadfastness of the Latvian regiment of Cheverev.

Anatoly Gutman-Gan, a former journalist of the rebel publications Izhevsk Defender, People's Power, and others, writes: “/…/ Bolshevik terror fell upon Sarapul with all its might. Sailor Vorozhtsov and Commissar Sedelnikov personally came to the prison at night and shot the victims planned according to pre-compiled lists. Everyone who got into prison knew that he, in all likelihood, would never get out of there. After a night of bloody orgies, the remaining arrested were forced to wash the floors and walls of the prison, spattered with blood. In June 1918, at the denunciation of his own workers, the Sarapul tannery David Usherenko was arrested with his two sons, students of the local real school. He was charged with possession of weapons. For several days, he and the arrested boys were mercilessly tortured and tortured. Finally, sailors arrived at the prison at night, brutally killed them, and their corpses, completely disfigured, were thrown into Kama.

Bloody terror, continues Gutman-Gan, also dominated the Izhevsk plant, located 70 miles from Sarapul. There was no Cheka here, but her duties were performed by the local executive committee. Here they killed not only the intelligentsia, but also peasants and workers suspected of counter-revolution. In villages and villages, Latvian commissars, sent from the centers, carried out executions, requisitions of bread, honey, butter, eggs and livestock /…/

In the book of memoirs of the legendary commander of the Izhevsk people, General V.M. Molchanov, when describing the events of the spring of 1919, it is attested: “When I arrived at the front line of the Second Regiment (we are talking about the Izhevsk division and the famous Izhevsk attack - to the accordion, with the nurse Lida Popova dancing in front), I found that we were opposed by a regiment of first-class Red fighters, the Third International Regiment. It was a particularly trusted fighting unit of the Red Army, which consisted of Chinese, Latvians, Hungarians, Communists, and I think a number of Germans.

«/…/ At this time, Izhevsk and Votkinsk,- continues Naumov, - kept in touch and acted in full contact. Echelons were sent from Petrograd to our front, mainly detachments of Letts and Magyars were sent, but there were also several companies consisting exclusively of Chinese. Now, looking into that distant past, it becomes clear why such detachments were sent to Izhevsk and Votkinsk from red Petrograd; sending Russian detachments against the insurgent Russian workers was dangerous, and the Magyars, Letts and Chinese - all this was a hired "army" ready to go against anyone. The Latvians and Magyars held on very steadfastly, while the Chinese were literally no good in battles, many of them died during the battles sunk in Kama..

A participant in the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising, in September-October 1918, the commander of the Izhevsk rifle regiment, later the commander of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk brigade A.G. Efimov recalled: “From the side of Galiana on this day, an offensive of large Red forces began. This time they mustered everything they could from their 2nd Army and sent about 6,000 men to Izhevsk with eight 3-inch guns, two field howitzers and 32 machine guns. There were a significant number of communists and Latvians and Magyars loyal to the Reds in the detachment..

“/…/ Intensified preparations were underway in the red camp to suppress the uprising of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk people. The defeat, flight and complete collapse of the 2nd Red Army and the obvious sympathy and assistance of the peasants to the insurgent workers made the uprising extremely dangerous for the red government. The unreliability of those mobilized from the local population made it necessary to send troops from the center of the country. Perseverance in combat clashes required the dispatch of especially persistent units made up of communists, from detachments of “extraordinary forces”, from Latvians and Chinese/…/. Detachments of hired foreigners in their cruelty did not differ from home-grown communists, and the struggle took on a ferocious, bloody character with heavy losses on both sides.

Izhevsk, who were on the "Northern" front, recalled how they had to deal with some kind of international regiment, in which all the soldiers were dressed in red shirts. Very intoxicated, they, with the singing of the “International”, which turned into a wild roar when approaching, rushed at their enemy, suffered heavy losses, but repeated the attacks several times /…/”.

«/…/ The stubbornly fighting detachment of the Reds consisted of Latvians. The main forces of Lieutenant Vershinin's group and the left bypass company did not have time to take part in the battle. But on the column of the main forces, following the road, the Reds opened fire from the direction of the village of Yakshur-Badya.

/…/ Around this time (according to other sources, it was earlier), Lieutenant Drobinin, near the village of Mishkino, dealt a crushing blow to the 4th Latvian Regiment, capturing several guns, machine guns and many prisoners, and turning the Red Latvians into a hasty flight. /…/

After holding out for more than a month, Kazan was captured by the Reds. They did not undertake an energetic pursuit of the retreating Kazan garrison, and he quite calmly crossed the Kama River near the village of Epanchino near Laishev. The Red troops, liberated near Kazan, directed against the Izhevsk and Votkinsk people, in a hurry to put an end to the uprising. First of all, they were transferred: Azin's detachment, which formed the 2nd Consolidated Division (then the 28th), and the Latvian regiments. The 4th Latvian regiment, as noted earlier, was defeated by the Votkinites, and the 5th Latvian regiment, which was badly damaged during the capture of Kazan by Colonel Kappel, apparently acted from the side of the city of Glazov.

“The fact of the Izhevsk uprising created confusion in the Soviet ranks. It was a terrible blow to the heart of Soviet power. After all, it was not the officers and generals of the old army that revolted in Izhevsk, not the capitalists or the urban bourgeoisie. The workers and peasants revolted against the "workers' and peasants' power".

The Izhevsk uprising in the rear of the Kazan group of red detachments was a mortal blow, it threatened to cut off the Soviet army, which was operating on Vyatka, Kama, Belaya, from the Kazan base. Therefore, in Moscow, the news of the Izhevsk uprising caused a panic. Trotsky's hysterical orders "to raze the perfidious Izhevsk and Votkinsk to the ground", "to ruthlessly destroy the Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents with their families" rained down. From Moscow, Petersburg, Kazan, communist and Latvian units were moved, given the task of clearing the Izhevsk-Votkinsk region of whites at all costs.

There was a strong armed flotilla of the Reds in Sarapule, there were also many Latvian units. Throughout August, the Reds repeatedly made attempts to land troops on the piers of Golyany and Galevo, intending to attack Izhevsk and Votkinsk from there, but all these operations ended in failure: the Reds were not able to resist the inspired and brave Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents. /…/ Under such unfavorable conditions, the rebel army had to endure continuous battles with the Reds. It was especially difficult for the Votkinsk people, who were attacked from both sides by the Sino-Latvian detachments. The forcibly mobilized peasants were driven on the offensive by the Latvians, placing machine guns in the rear. /…/ At that moment, the Reds surrounded Izhevsk and launched a decisive attack on the city from two sides. The headquarters and part of the detachments barely managed to escape on the road to Votkinsk, and thousands of residents and workers did not have time to escape and fell under the power of the Reds.

Eyewitnesses of the capture of Izhevsk by the Reds convey the following details of the massacre of civilians. On November 7, the Reds quickly broke into Izhevsk. Part of the army did not have time to escape; the soldiers dropped their rifles and ran to the factory. The Reds surrounded the plant and checked the workers. Whoever had a work ticket was released, and the rest were taken out, gathered on the church square, all were shot from machine guns. In total, about 800 people were killed on the day of the capture of the city. The bodies of the dead were transported in carts for several days and buried in huge pits in the forest near the factory lake. The next day, the Extraordinary Commission began to operate. They caught everyone who was pointed out by local communists. A few days later, the prisons and all the detention facilities were overcrowded. The arrested were lying in cellars and sheds.

The main contingent of those arrested: workers and employees of the plant. The shootings continued for more than a month. The main part in the executions was taken by the Chinese, Magyars and Latvians. The apartments of working-class families whose members served in the People's Army were completely looted. The families of the departed workers were killed.”

Moltchanoff V.M. The last white general.// An Interview conducted by Boris Raymond. 1972 by The University of California at Berkeley. P. 39-40.

Naumov V.M. My memories // Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising. S. 83.

UK. op. S. 86.

Efimov A.G. Izhevtsy and Votkintsy. The struggle against the Bolsheviks 1918-1920. M., 2008. S. 56.

Decree. op. pp. 66-67.

Decree. op. pp. 72-73.

Decree. op. pp. 80, 82, 87-88.

Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising (08.08. to 11.14.1918)

From thoughts-visions I can’t fall asleep until the morning:
Again target chains, a thunderous cheer.
They died as they lived - some in the ditch, some in battle,
We are for our Russia, and they are for theirs...

2008 marks the 90th anniversary of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising, one of the most complex and inherently contradictory events of the Civil War in Eastern Russia. For a long time, this event was preferred not to be mentioned in official historiography.

From the very beginning, its ambivalent nature has thrown both opposing camps into disarray. On the one hand, the armed uprising against the "proletarian" power of the representatives of the best and most educated part of the working class made it mortally dangerous for Soviet power. On the other hand, the proclamation by the rebels of the struggle under the banner of defending the gains of the revolution and the power of the soviets made the rapidly ruling forces of the so-called wary of him. "democratic counter-revolution". And yet, despite the seemingly obvious inevitability of defeat, the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising managed to hold out for more than three months (08.08. to 11.14.1918), being an example of a well-oiled military mechanism. It was he who managed to actually carry out the most difficult task that faced any government during this period and consisted in creating a combat-ready, disciplined, and at the same time voluntary and democratic army. The history of the combat path of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk People's Armies is the best evidence of this.

The Izhevsk-Votkinsk phenomenon of 1918 resolutely contradicted the officially accepted scheme of unambiguous definitions of both the Civil War in general and the counter-revolution in particular. Meanwhile, a careful reading of the now available sources allows us to get closer to understanding the actual state of affairs. The uniqueness of the events lies in the fact that not the peasants, but the workers opposed the Soviet government.

The fact that the participants in the uprising for the most part continued to fight against the Bolsheviks in the ranks of the White Army of Admiral Kolchak once again confirms the thesis about the broad social base of the Russian White movement. Of course, the status of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk divisions was special. Here, the statutory rules and formal relations between commanders and subordinates were not taken into account. Of much greater importance was trust between officers and soldiers, trust justified by bloody battles and difficult transitions, trust that gave that inner cohesion, the stamina of the ranks of Izhevsk and Votkinsk, which even their opponents spoke about. This solidarity, which originated in the August days of the 1918 uprising, continued through the difficult years of the civil war and through the long decades of emigration. Having reached Manchuria with Kolchak's army, they scattered around the world - the USA, Canada, the Philippines, Japan, Argentina. In some countries, their own communities were created, especially large in California (USA), where the banner of the Izhevsk division was kept for a long time. The memory of that harsh time is still kept in the families of our fellow countrymen living abroad, the descendants of the participants in the uprising, who continued to consider Izhevsk their hometown.

On August 7, 1918, in Izhevsk, the Bolsheviks announced an order to mobilize all former participants in the First World War into the Red Army to liberate Kazan from the Whites. The front-line soldiers refused to obey this order. In response to threats from the Bolsheviks, who promised to shoot the recalcitrant, the front-line soldiers seized 7,000 rifles from the factory and armed themselves. Colonel Dmitry Ivanovich Fedichkin, a participant in the Russian-Japanese and World War I, was appointed to command all the armed forces that acted against the Bolsheviks.

Civil power in the city, hitherto in the hands of the Bolsheviks, has now passed into the hands of the Izhevsk Soviet of Workers' Deputies, dispersed by the Bolsheviks. But two days later, the people of Izhevsk became convinced that such a cumbersome, 250-man body of power is absolutely incapable of quick decisions and orders that are necessary during an uprising.
Therefore, civil power on the third day of the uprising was transferred to the Kama Committee, which consisted of four members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, who gathered in Izhevsk after the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly by the Bolsheviks.

With the change of power, the way of government changed both in Izhevsk and in the factories. All public and state institutions and institutions closed by the Bolsheviks in the city began to operate as before, as it was before the Bolsheviks.

All workers and employees of the factories dismissed from the factories for antipathy towards the Bolsheviks were again taken to their former places. The sale of bread banned by the Bolsheviks is allowed.

The state of siege was lifted in the city and peacetime order was introduced. The front-line soldiers, who hated the Red Army, were glad that they got rid of mobilization into it.

Izhevsk, which rebelled against the Bolsheviks, with two of the richest state-owned factories, found itself in the center of well-armed Red Army forces.

The very next day after the uprising, detachments of the Red Army made attempts to capture Izhevsk. But Colonel Fedichkin formed a detachment of 300 front-line soldiers and successfully repulsed the Bolshevik offensive from the Kazan Railway. From the side of the Golyansky tract, Izhevsk was defended by a small detachment of artillery officials under the command of Staff Captain Kurakin.

In August 1918, hostilities developed successfully for the defenders of Izhevsk.

On August 14, a detachment of the Red Army with a force of 2,500 infantry advanced along the Kazan railway to Izhevsk in trains.
Colonel Fedichkin believed that 300 Izhevsk experienced and disciplined front-line soldiers were ten times better and stronger in the battles of the same number of untrained and unbridled freedoms of the Reds. Therefore, he took these 300 front-line soldiers with him and led them to meet the red trains.

At 6 versts from Izhevsk, on the railway line, the Izhevsk people stopped and here spoiled part of the railway track so that the Red trains could not go further than this place to Izhevsk. Then they set up an ambush in the thick bushes growing on both sides and began to wait for the approach of enemy trains. The people of Izhevsk did not wait long. Bolshevik trains appeared ahead.
The driver from the front locomotive was the first to notice the ruined track and, to the happiness of the townspeople, stopped the train just where they expected it. Izhevsk residents did not rush to the train with a shout of "Hurrah!" Because there were too many red ones.
Continuing to hide from the enemy behind the bushes, they accurately shot at the doors and windows of the cars on both sides of the trains, preventing the Bolsheviks from unloading from the cars.

The Bolsheviks realized that the people of Izhevsk had decided to shoot them all to the last man in the wagons. I had to hang white rags out of the windows. Shooting was suspended. At that moment, 40 Bolsheviks tried to escape from the wagons into the forest, but were caught and disarmed. It turned out to be just those people who, with their cruel attitude towards the Izhevsk workers, brought them to an armed uprising. Separately from other captured Red Army soldiers, they were sent to Izhevsk to be massacred by the workers.

On the same day, August 14, the Bolsheviks launched an attack on Izhevsk from the Golyana pier. The Izhevsk staff sent there a small detachment of artillery officials under the command of Staff Captain Kurakin. The Reds were forced to retreat.

As a result of the often repeated offensives of the Red Army along the Kazan line of the railway in trains, the Izhevsk people built a fortified position with a line of full-profile trenches for 6 miles along the front, with communications and observation points. All distances to visible objects in front of the position were measured and rewritten in the trenches on the tablets.

A permanent garrison of 800 people was placed in the trenches, and a reserve was placed two versts from the front line, also in the trenches.
This garrison was commanded by a native Izhevsk resident lieutenant Zebziev.

On August 17, 1918, a detachment of the Red Army, numbering 2,000 infantry, 200 cavalry, with 8 guns, advanced again by rail from the city of Kazan.
Since the railway track turned out to be dismantled 6 versts from Izhevsk, the detachment disembarked from the cars and unloaded their cannons and machine guns.

The Izhevsk people hid in their trenches and did not reveal their presence in this position. When the Bolshevik column approached the trenches of the Izhevsk people, the defenders of the city opened fire.
The Bolsheviks, who did not expect anything like this from the Izhevsk workers, began to shoot back and retreat, leaving their dead and wounded behind.

On August 18, the 6000th detachment of Bolsheviks under the command of Antonov approached Izhevsk from the side of the Golyansky tract. He had the strictest order from Lenin and
Trotsky: "Take the Izhevsk factories at all costs."
The enemy began to smash the city with cannons. Shells exploded in the streets. Colonel Fedichkin and 600 Izhevsk residents held the advance of the Antonov column only with rifle fire. They didn't have guns. In the city itself, a militia was urgently formed, which moved to help the defenders of Izhevsk. Colonel Fedichkin explained the mission to the people of Izhevsk: "Surround the enemy in the forest and destroy them."

Antonov felt a huge hostile force around him and developed such a fierce fire that the militias had to dig into the ground. By dawn on August 19, the enemy shot all the cartridges and shells. The shooting stopped.
Izhevsk rushed to the exhausted Reds with a loud cry of "Hurrah" and won. The defenders of Izhevsk in this battle got rich with a cannon, machine guns, gold stolen by the Bolsheviks and a mass of communist literature, which was burned right there in the forest.

At the end of this battle, the families of the townspeople met their defenders with church bells, with a procession, with a large choir of cathedral singers who sang prayers of thanksgiving to God with tears of joy in their eyes.

In August, a detachment of staff captain Kurakin captured the city of Sarapul, freeing it from Red Army detachments. The peasants provided great assistance to the rebels. They sent delegates to Izhevsk with a request to give them weapons to protect their own lives and property from the robbery of the Bolshevik food detachments.

The peasant delegates were received in Izhevsk, and their request was granted. Among the peasants were soldiers and officers with a large combat qualification during the First World War, which the Izhevsk army lacked. Therefore, Colonel Fedichkin, with the consent of the Committee of Members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, ordered the chief of staff, a native of Izhevsk, who knew everyone by sight, to form combat detachments from peasant soldiers and officers, arm them and give them combat missions.

For this help, the peasants undertook to bring to Izhevsk bread and food supplies in the required quantity for the workers of the factories. The peasants quickly formed large detachments from their companies and began to destroy all the Bolshevik food detachments on their territory with fervor and fight against the detachments of the Red Army, which were not allowed to enter Izhevsk.
Thanks to the wealth of telephone and telegraph lines in the Vyatka province, the connection between the peasant detachments and the headquarters of the Izhevsk People's Army was maintained continuously.

Along the Northern Railway, between the city of Glazov and the Cheptsy station, the Northern Front was formed over a distance of 150 versts, which, within three months, completely cleared the Glazov and Sarapul districts of the Red Army detachments. On the northern front, 10 detachments of 10,000 peasant soldiers each fought under the general command of Captain Zuev from Izhevsk with the chief of staff of the front, Captain Mironov. The 3rd Red Army, not receiving any troops from the center against the Izhevsk People's Army, limited itself to six regiments formed from local peasants who hated the Bolsheviks.

These six regiments worked perfectly in favor of the Izhevsk army, fulfilling their tasks. They advanced all the time and, defeated, retreated, leaving the Izhevsk people their cannons, machine guns and grain and cattle taken from the peasants. Then these regiments were replenished again, armed, advancing again, defeated - retreated, leaving new trophies to the Izhevsk people. So they tried to act until the liquidation of the Izhevsk People's Army.

At the end of October 1918, the funds of the Izhevsk army were depleted. Hope for outside help was lost. The Bolsheviks, having captured Samara and Kazan, attacked the army of Colonel Fedichkin from all sides. They cut off all the peasant detachments from Izhevsk and surrounded Izhevsk. In addition, the flotilla of Captain Feodosyev, who covered the Kama from the Bolshevik flotilla passing through it, sailed to Ufa without warning the headquarters of the Izhevsk army about their departure. The way for the Bolsheviks from the Kama was opened, and the Izhevsk army was cut off from the Ufa troops. This was one of the main reasons for the fall of the Kama region and the Izhevsk People's Army.

On October 20, Colonel Fedichkin gathered the Izhevsk administration and the Committee of members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly and announced the immediate evacuation of those who could not entrust their lives to the Bolsheviks. While there is an opportunity, within the next few days, evacuate women, children and valuable property. In a week, the people of Izhevsk will not have a single cartridge and projectile, and "we will have to flee from Izhevsk naked across the ice across the Kama River."

The chairman of the Committee of Members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, Evseev, did not agree with Colonel Fedichkin and called the statement about the evacuation cowardice.

Then Colonel Fedichkin demanded from the members of the Kama Committee of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly to dismiss him due to an upset state of health and send him to the disposal of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Land and Naval Forces of Russia, General Boldyrev. Having received documents from the Committee of Members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, Colonel Fedichkin and his personal adjutant, Captain Popkov, mounted riding horses and rode through the red troops to Ufa at night. A few days later, the Bolsheviks entered Izhevsk and shot 400 workers on the square of the Mikhailovsky Cathedral.

The Izhevsk People's Army, with part of the families and peasant detachments, with great difficulty and hardship, somehow made their way into the disposition of the forces of General Boldyrev.

———————————————————————————

Between white and red

An anniversary was recently celebrated in Izhevsk: 85 years ago, on November 7, 1918, units of the Red Army suppressed the rebellion of the workers of the Izhevsk plant.

The speeches of workers, peasants and soldiers during the Civil War against the policy pursued by the Bolsheviks were bypassed by Soviet historical science. At best, they received the labels of "counter-revolutionary" and "anti-Soviet", their participants automatically became accomplices of the world bourgeoisie and landlords. In principle, this is understandable, because these events did not fit into the official ideology of the new “workers' and peasants'” government. Nor did they fit into the political doctrines of the whites. This is exactly what the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising of 1918 was like.

The reasons for it were the gross mistakes of the "proletarian" government in its policy. The Bolsheviks did not take into account the peculiarities of local conditions. The proletarians of Izhevsk and Votkinsk were, as a rule, hereditary and highly skilled. Their way of life evolved over decades: all the workers were literate, provided with permanent jobs and good income through state orders, had their own houses with a developed subsidiary farm. Hence the close relationship with the villagers.
It was all broken. First the First World War, then the February Revolution. The devastation made itself known. There were fewer and fewer jobs, the standard of living fell, and a rationing system was introduced. After October 1917, all this was aggravated by the miscalculations of the Bolsheviks: attempts to turn the workers' Soviets into obedient bodies of the central government, disorderly requisitions of food, arrests and executions, suspicious attitude towards the indigenous workers.
The uprising began on August 7, 1918, the reason was an unsuccessful attempt to mobilize workers into the Red Army. The goals of the rebels became clear immediately. They did not long for the restoration of imperial order. The insurgents chose the old composition of the Soviet of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies, which the Bolsheviks had previously dispersed and preserved the trade unions. They chose the red flag as their symbol, and the Varshavyanka and Marseillaise as their anthems.
Factories continued to operate, and production even increased, mainly due to an increase in labor productivity.
The workers of the Izhevsk plant managed to solve the problem that faced any government at that time. They created a strong, combat-ready, and at the same time democratic and voluntary army. Most of the companies had a militia character, gathering only in case of alarm. The rifles were right next to the machines. Officers, mostly factory workers, were chosen on the basis of knowledge or personal authority. In addition, outside the fighting, everyone was equal, the orders of the headquarters were discussed collectively, the commanders did not have the right to disciplinary punishment.
Having created a people's army, the Izhevsk and Votkinsk people defeated the legendary Red commanders Antonov-Ovseenko and Blucher in battle. Often the Red Army soldiers themselves handed over their weapons and went over to the side of the factory workers. They saw that they had to fight not with the landlords and bourgeoisie, but with ordinary workers and peasants, marching to the sounds of an accordion in a bayonet attack - the rebels did not have cartridges, they were mined in battle. In the meantime, regiments consisting of Chinese, Hungarian, Latvian internationalists and Chekists loyal to the Bolsheviks were gathering under the rebellious factory. The forces were not equal, on November 7 the rebels left the city-factory and retreated to Votkinsk. November 14 fell the last stronghold of the rebels. Up to seventy thousand Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents were able to move to Kolchak beyond the Kama.
Naturally, the whites were suspicious of the workers. However, the Izhevsk and Votkinsk people proved to be an excellent fighting force. Kolchak turned a blind eye to many things, including the existence of the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, the red flag in the Izhevsk division. In the ranks of the workers themselves, discontent grew. Watching the robberies and pogroms, the destruction of prisoners, they understood that they did not dream of such a democracy. In addition, the Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern proletarians treated them as traitors to the "cause of the working class." A lot of Izhevsk went to the partisans, the Red Army, fled home. Thus, the number of rebels in the ranks of the whites was reduced to several thousand. After the capture of Vladivostok, the remnants of the Izhevsk people emigrated to Manchuria.
The Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising of August 7 - November 14, 1918 ended in defeat. Too democratic for the Reds, and too revolutionary for the Whites, it initially turned out to be doomed to a tragic ending.

I. Karachev, Izhevsk

Who has not heard how he fought with enemies
Izhevsk regiment under bloody Ufa,
As with an accordionist he rushed to the attack,
Izhevets is a simple Russian worker.

Izhevsk soldiers in the Russian army of Kolchak

In Soviet times, we enthusiastically sang a song about "storm nights of Spassk, Volochaev days." And no one asked the question: why did the Red heroes get those Far Eastern hills so hard? The reality turned out to be not entirely heroic, rather tragic. In fact, in the winter of 1922, a division of Ural workers who fought for the Whites offered fierce resistance to the Reds in the winter of 1922 at the Volochaev line.

In August 1918, the Izhevsk-Votkinsk anti-Bolshevik mutiny took place - an armed uprising led by the Union of Front-line Soldiers organization under the slogan "For Soviets without Bolsheviks." The workers rebelled, outraged by the Russophobic lawlessness of the Red Terror, by numerous cruel and extrajudicial reprisals against their countrymen. The uprising was centered on two cities where large state defense factories were located. At the moment of the highest rise, the rebellion covered the territory with a population of more than a million people (most of modern Udmurtia), and the number of the rebel army reached 25 thousand bayonets. The most active participants in the uprising were the workers of Izhevsk and Votkinsk. It was from them that two divisions were formed. The workers went into battle against the Bolsheviks, first under a red banner on which was written "In the struggle you will find your right."

Strategically, the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising had a significant impact on the position of the Red Army, mainly on the actions of the 2nd and 3rd armies. The 2nd Army was actually defeated by the rebels, after which it had to be created again and until the very end of the uprising, it was chained to the Izhevsk-Votkinsk region, unable to contribute to the front. In turn, the 3rd Army was forced to allocate part of its forces for operations against the insurgent Votkinsk, in addition, significant forces were diverted to protect the Vyatka-Perm railway, which was in danger of being cut by the rebels. All this became an important factor that allowed the Russian army to concentrate its forces in the Perm direction and subsequently capture Perm on December 25, 1918. The defeat, flight and complete collapse of the 2nd Army of the Red Army, the obvious sympathy and help of the peasants to the insurgent workers made the uprising extremely dangerous for the red government. The unreliability of those mobilized from the local population made it necessary to send troops from the center of the country. Perseverance in combat clashes required the dispatch of especially steadfast units made up of communists, Latvians and Chinese. Detachments of hired foreigners in their cruelty did not differ from home-grown communists, and the struggle took on a ferocious, bloody character with heavy losses on both sides. As a result of the defeat of the uprising, the White movement lost the opportunity to use the potential of the Izhevsk arms factories in the Civil War, which produced up to one third of all small arms produced in Russia. These factories passed into the hands of the Reds. In connection with the departure of a significant part of the workers to the Whites, the production of rifles at the Izhevsk plant was sharply reduced. Only by January 1919 was it possible to bring it up to 1000 pieces a day, which, nevertheless, was twice as low as the volume of production before the uprising. Together with the rebels, their families also left their homes, not counting on the mercy of the Bolsheviks.

During the Civil War, the Izhevsk and Votkinsk divisions suffered losses and merged into one division. It was headed by Colonel Viktorin Molchanov. This unit became part of the troops of Admiral Kolchak. For Molchanov, the civil war began with the fact that he led a detachment of peasant self-defense, which resisted the Bolshevik food detachments in the Kama region. Then Molchanov led an uprising in the Yelabuga district. At the same time, having broken through the front, a unit of Izhevsk workers retreated from the encirclement near Yelabuga, which became part of the 2nd White Guard Ufa Army Corps.

The division of the Ural workers was the most combat-ready formation of the Kolchak troops. She retreated last, holding back the onslaught of the Reds. She especially got it in Krasnoyarsk, where the Reds raised an uprising, cutting off the escape routes. Then the Izhevsk/Votkintsy broke into Krasnoyarsk with a fight, defeated the rebels and moved to Irkutsk.

Battle flag of the division of the Ural workers

As we know, in the Baikal region, Kolchak's army ended its existence, and the Supreme Ruler himself was shot. Only a division of the Urals and a regiment of Kappel officers were able to cross the ice of Lake Baikal in full force. In Chita, General Molchanov received the post of deputy commander of the Far Eastern (White) Army and headed the Siberian Corps, created on the basis of the remaining troops of Kappel and Kolchak. In Primorye, Molchanov rearmed his fighters, replenished the regiments with volunteers from the local population, after which the corps became known as the Insurgent White Army. From Ussuriysk, Molchanov's army launched an offensive to the north, inflicting a number of significant defeats on the Red Far Eastern Army. On December 22, 1921, the Whites captured Khabarovsk and liberated almost all of the central Amur region and northern Primorye. The Molchonovists suffered their first defeat on February 12, 1922 from the superior forces of the Red Army near Volochaevka.

During the years of Soviet power, a museum was created on the June-Koran hill on the left bank of the Amur, near Khabarovsk. One of the most interesting expositions recreates the events of February 1922: the army of the red hero of the Civil War Vasily Blucher, having numerous superiority in manpower, with the support of artillery, tanks and armored trains, breaks through the defenses of the Whites. Sopka June-Koran and adjacent territories were occupied by the Izhevsk-Votkinsk division. She gave a chance to the rest of the White Guards, burdened with carts and families, to retreat beyond the Amur, in order to further, from Primorye, by sea or by land, emigrate from Russia.

The division itself lost many fighters in those battles, but also put a lot of enemy manpower on the approaches to Volochaevka. Suffice it to say that the first regiment of Red Army soldiers who stormed the hill was completely destroyed. Commander Blucher had to urgently throw reserves into battle so that the Whites would not have time to bring ammunition from Khabarovsk. Since there were not enough cartridges, the Izhevsk people poured water on the slopes of the hill, creating an ice crust, and entangled everything with barbed wire. From the trenches they rose only in furious bayonet attacks. When Blucher's cavalry began to surround Volochaevka and the hill, Molchanov gave the order to retreat to Khabarovsk. From there, to the south, its units made their way with heavy fighting. The most violent clashes took place near the stations Rozengartovka and Bikin. By the way, all the Blucher regiments participating in them were awarded the Orders of the Red Banner.

In October 1922 fierce fighting began in Spassk. And again, the evacuation of the remnants of the White Army was covered by the Izhevsk-Votkinsk division under the command of General Molchanov. Of course, the Ural workers also protected their families, who were in a hurry to get out of Russia to China. On the morning of October 9, the Red troops went on the offensive along the entire front. After a short artillery preparation, they occupied the northern part of the city. By noon, four more forts were captured and the Whites withdrew to the last fortified line in the cement factory area. However, then, being under the threat of capture from the flanks, they were forced to leave Spassk ...

So the division of the Ural workers practically ceased to exist. She took only one more battle - on the border with China. In order for the convoy with women and children to have time to cross the border, the Urals rose in a bayonet attack against the Red Army commanded by Uborevich. Only a small number of surviving soldiers and officers, having retained the St. Andrew's banner, left Russia ...

Viktorin Mikhailovich Molchanov

Permanent commander of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk division. He graduated from the Elabuga real and Moscow infantry cadet (later - Alekseevsky military) schools. He served in the Siberian sapper battalions in the Baikal region and in the village of Razdolny near Vladivostok. He did a lot of geodetic work in Primorye and Baikal. Member of the First World War. The end of the war found him on the Riga front in the position of an engineer of the army corps with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was wounded in both legs and was taken prisoner by the Germans. Ran. Returning to Yelabuga, he joined the White movement. At the end of the Civil War, together with several officers and the commander of the Zemstvo army, General Diterikhs, he left Vladivostok to the Korean border in Posyet. Here they were picked up by a squadron of ships of the Siberian Flotilla of Rear Admiral Georgy Stark. Victorin Molchanov emigrated to Korea, from there he moved to Manchuria. Some time later he left for the USA and settled near San Francisco. There he set up a chicken farm. During the Great Patriotic War, Molchanov supported fundraising in the United States to help the Red Army and the Soviet people who fought against fascism. Victorin Mikhailovich died in 1975.

Sources:

"The white commander walked under the red banner"

In memory of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising. Latvian shooters against Russian workers.

Battle banner of Izhevsk.

“On August 8, 1918, the Izhevsk-Votkinsk anti-Bolshevik uprising began. The Izhevsk division was formed from the workers of the factory of the same name, who rebelled against the Bolsheviks in August 1918. In addition to the Izhevsk workers, the workers of the neighboring Votkinsk plant also rebelled against the Bolsheviks, who formed a separate Votkinsk division. Later, the workers of both factories were brought together in a special Izhevsk-Votkinsk brigade.
The uniform colors of Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents were blue (a symbol of connection with their factories - iron and steel) and white (the color of the White Movement).
These units were distinguished by a very high combat capability. Contemporaries described the crushing attacks of the Izhevsk workers as follows: “They did not recognize the bayonet, and when the minute of hand-to-hand combat came, they threw their rifle on their belt behind their backs and took out their long working knives. According to numerous eyewitnesses of these decisive moments of the attack, the Reds could not withstand one kind of this manipulation and took to flight in order to avoid hand-to-hand combat with such a determined enemy. It is interesting to note here that the Izhevsk and Votkinsk divisions remained invincible throughout the Civil War ”(see A. Vorobyov. The uprising at the Izhevsk and Votkinsk factories in August 1919. - Sentry (Brussels), 1987, No. 663, p. 10 ).
We add that in the fall of 1919, the Supreme Ruler of Russia, Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak, granted the Izhevsk Division the honorary St. George banner - the highest collective award for military prowess. Currently, this banner is stored in the Irkutsk Museum of Local Lore. Who opposed the Russian workers who rose up for their country against a handful of criminals who imagined themselves to be in power?
“In mid-August, in the Urals, in the industrial towns of Votkinsk and Izhevsk, none other than the workers themselves, the workers of state arms factories, rebelled against the “workers’ and peasants’” authorities. On the morning of August 7, armed with rifles seized from the factory, the Izhevsk residents raised an uprising and entered into battle with the Red Army battalion and a detachment of Austrian internationalists. By evening, the Austrian internationalists were destroyed, and the remnants of the Red Army battalion fled the city.
The organizer of the uprising, non-commissioned officer Oskolkov, turned to the regiment located at that time in Izhevsk. D. I. Fedichkin to accept the Izhevsk Workers' Regiment under his command. August 15 Col. Fedichkin, having defeated the Red Army garrison in a short battle, captured the Galiany wharf and took control of the Kama, along which the Soviet flotilla cruised. The commander of the 2nd Soviet Army, Reinhold Berzin, sent a group of Soviet troops to the Galyan region, led by the Ufa Latvian battalion, numbering 500 riflemen and 30 cavalrymen with 26 machine guns. With a swift attack, the Latvians drove the Izhevsk out of Galyan on August 18 and, together with other red units, went on the offensive against Izhevsk. But before the commander of the Latvian battalion J. Reinfeld had time to throw his shooters to storm Izhevsk, a new enemy appeared in the rear of his group of troops. Workers in the nearby town of Sarapul, having arrested the entire Sarapul Soviet and local Chekists, formed an anti-Soviet detachment.
At the same time, the workers in the neighboring town of Votkinsk also revolted, who, under the command of Captain Yuryev, hit the flank of the Ufa Latvian battalion and forced it, along with other Red Army units, to retreat to the west.

On September 24, the 7th Bausky lat was sent from Petrograd to liquidate the rebellion of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk workers. strl. regiment, Latvian artillery battalion and cavalry detachment. On September 29, Latvian riflemen landed 100 km north of Votkinsk, at the Cheptsa station, from where, uniting with units of the Special Vyatka Division, they launched an offensive against Votkinsk.
At the news that the Latvian Riflemen had arrived, the peasants left the villages and fled to the forest, for the rumor of their reprisals against the Yaroslavl insurgents, of their adamant loyalty to Lenin, etc., reached these remote places. This was repeated in every village. Of course, the arrows did not kill all the inhabitants and did not burn all the villages, but it was enough that they shot the relatives of the peasants who had joined the rebellious workers. Otherwise, the peasants would not be hiding in the forests. The names of the commander of the 7th Bauska Lat. strl. the regiment of Manguls and the Latvian commander V. Azin, who perpetrated a bloody massacre in Votkinsk and Izhevsk, after being captured by the Reds, were pronounced here only with a curse.
October 7, 35 km from Votkinsk, 7th Bauska Lat. the rifle regiment and the Special Vyatka Division met with the Votkinsk detachments, commanded by Captain Yuryev. The battles were fierce and long, at first with varying success. But over time, well trained and having combat experience in the 1st World War, the Latvian riflemen, using detours from the flanks and attacking with concentrated forces, began to win victories. The overwhelming number of Votkinsk workers never served in the army, because, as employed in arms factories, they were exempted from military service; they did not have officers either - sergeants and non-commissioned officers commanded companies and platoons. But in courage and stamina they were not inferior to the arrows. The battle went on for more than a month, only sometimes dying down for a day or two.
At the same time, the 2nd Soviet consolidated division under the command of the old Latvian communist Valdemar Azin was advancing on Izhevsk. In the 247th regiment, which was part of this division, there were two Latvian companies. The regiment was commanded by J. Reinfeld, the former commander of the Ufa Latvian battalion defeated by the Izhevsk people. The regimental commissar was Reinberg; a detachment of mounted scouts was commanded by T. Kalnyn; 3rd battalion - his brother Zh. Kalnyn; machine gun team - Osis; the economic part is a communist since 1905. Kondrate. So, although there were only two Latvian companies in the 247th regiment, the command posts were mainly occupied by Red Latvians. In the 2nd Soviet consolidated division there were also parts of the Hungarian internationalists.
On November 7, Divisional Commander V. Azin threw his division into the assault on Izhevsk. The alarm sounded in the city. The entire population rose to defend their native city. Izhevsk workers rushed to the counterattack, but in the first battle they lost over 800 killed. The battle lasted three days, but the Izhevsk people could not repulse the red regiments, abundantly supplied with machine guns and artillery. On November 9, Azin himself, on an armored train, rushed to break through the defense, mowing down the defenders of the city with machine guns. On November 10, under the cover of night, the workers' detachments, together with part of the population, left the city.
In the morning, divisional commander V. Azin proceeded to massacre the population remaining in Izhevsk. Relatives of recalcitrant workers, including old men and women, were shot on the very first day by order of V. Azin. The bloody Yaroslavl bath was repeated. For the capture of Izhevsk, V. Azin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
These two statements about the decisive role of the Lettish riflemen in the suppression of the Izhevsk uprising and their subsequent direct participation in the Red Terror remain a commonplace even in recent works on the uprising. So, in particular, A.A. Sheptalin claims that “the most loyal and combat-ready forces of the Red Army were thrown into the suppression of the uprising, half of which were “internationalists” distinguished by their cruelty - parts of the Latvian and Chinese shooters, as well as mercenaries from former prisoners of war Hungarians, Austrians, Germans and Turks” . He is echoed by A.A. Petrov: “The Izhevsk workers had no choice but to launch a massive unarmed bayonet attack on the factory whistle on the morning of November 7. Azin was saved from a completely unexpected and crushing defeat only by the stamina of the Latvian regiment of Cheverev.”
Anatoly Gutman-Gan, a former journalist of the rebel publications Izhevsk Defender, Narodovlastie, and others, writes: “The Bolshevik terror fell upon Sarapul with all its might. Sailor Vorozhtsov and Commissar Sedelnikov personally came to the prison at night and shot the victims planned according to pre-compiled lists. Everyone who got into prison knew that he, in all likelihood, would never get out of there. After a night of bloody orgies, the remaining arrested were forced to wash the floors and walls of the prison, spattered with blood. In June 1918, at the denunciation of his own workers, the Sarapul tannery David Usherenko was arrested with his two sons, students of the local real school. He was charged with possession of weapons. For several days, he and the arrested boys were mercilessly tortured and tortured. Finally, sailors arrived at the prison at night, brutally killed them, and their corpses, completely disfigured, were thrown into Kama.
Bloody terror, continues Gutman-Gan, also dominated the Izhevsk plant, located 70 miles from Sarapul. There was no Cheka here, but her duties were performed by the local executive committee. Here they killed not only the intelligentsia, but also peasants and workers suspected of counter-revolution. In villages and villages, Latvian commissars, sent from the centers, carried out executions, requisitions of bread, honey, butter, eggs and livestock. The headquarters of the 2nd Red Army were concentrated in Sarapul. At that time, the main forces of the Bolsheviks operating here were Latvians, Magyars, Chinese, and very few Russian soldiers - the remnants of the old army.

In the book of memoirs of the legendary Izhevsk commander General V. M. Molchanov, when describing the events of the spring of 1919, it is testified: “When I arrived at the front line of the Second Regiment (we are talking about the Izhevsk division and the famous Izhevsk attack - to the accordion, with the nurse Lida Popova dancing in front ), I found that we were opposed by a regiment of first-class Red fighters, the Third International Regiment. It was a particularly trusted fighting unit of the Red Army, which consisted of Chinese, Latvians, Hungarians, communists, and I think a certain number of Germans.

In the same tone as both of his commanders - Fedichkin and Molchanov, considers the Latvian theme in his memoirs, which were published in 1975 in San Francisco, and an ordinary participant in those events, V.M. Naumov.
“Our detachment began to carry out reconnaissance. Not far from the village, we noticed a cavalry detachment approaching us, much larger than ours. Approaching, they shouted - "Who is going?". We answered - "Own" and, approaching closely, put down their Latvian commissar. The detachment immediately turned back. The commissar taken prisoner by us in that first skirmish of ours was sentenced to death. How did it happen - did the guards let him go, or did he manage to escape when they led him through the forest, in any case, he was after in our village, when we had already left for Kama, he was at the head of the red detachments.
“At this time, Izhevsk and Votkinsk,” continues Naumov, “kept in touch and acted in full contact. Echelons were sent from Petrograd to our front, mainly detachments of Letts and Magyars were sent, but there were also several companies consisting exclusively of Chinese. Now, looking into that distant past, it becomes clear why such detachments were sent to Izhevsk and Votkinsk from red Petrograd; it was dangerous to send Russian detachments against the insurgent Russian workers, and the Magyars, Letts and Chinese - all this was a hired "army" ready to go against anyone. The Latvians and Magyars held out very steadfastly, while the Chinese were literally no good in battles, many of them died during the battles sunk in Kama.
Member of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising, in September-October 1918, commander of the Izhevsk rifle regiment, later commander of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk brigade A.G. Efimov recalled: “On that day, the offensive of large Red forces began from the side of Galiana. This time they mustered everything they could from their 2nd Army and sent about 6,000 men to Izhevsk with eight 3-inch guns, two field howitzers and 32 machine guns. There were a significant number of communists and Latvians and Magyars loyal to the Reds in the detachment.
“In the red camp, intensive preparations were underway to suppress the uprising of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk people. The defeat, flight and complete collapse of the 2nd Red Army and the obvious sympathy and assistance of the peasants to the insurgent workers made the uprising extremely dangerous for the red government. The unreliability of those mobilized from the local population made it necessary to send troops from the center of the country. Perseverance in combat clashes required the dispatch of especially staunch units made up of communists, from detachments of “extraordinary forces”, from Latvians and Chinese .... Detachments of hired foreigners in their cruelty did not differ from home-grown communists, and the struggle took on a ferocious, bloody character with heavy losses at both sides.
Izhevsk, who were on the "Northern" front, recalled how they had to deal with some kind of international regiment, in which all the soldiers were dressed in red shirts. Very intoxicated, they, with the singing of the “International”, which turned into a wild roar when approaching, rushed at their enemy, suffered heavy losses, but repeated the attacks several times ... ". The stubbornly fighting detachment of the Reds consisted of Latvians. The main forces of Lieutenant Vershinin's group and the left bypass company did not have time to take part in the battle. But on the column of the main forces, following the road, the Reds opened fire from the direction of the village of Yakshur-Badya.
Around this time (according to other sources, it was earlier), Lieutenant Drobinin, near the village of Mishkino, dealt a crushing blow to the 4th Latvian Regiment, capturing several guns, machine guns and many prisoners, and turning the Red Latvians into a hasty flight.
After holding out for more than a month, Kazan was captured by the Reds. They did not undertake an energetic pursuit of the retreating Kazan garrison, and he quite calmly crossed the Kama River near the village of Epanchino near Laishev. The Red troops, liberated near Kazan, directed against the Izhevsk and Votkinsk people, in a hurry to put an end to the uprising. First of all, they were transferred: Azin's detachment, which formed the 2nd Consolidated Division (then the 28th), and the Latvian regiments. The 4th Latvian regiment, as noted earlier, was defeated by the Votkinites, and the 5th Latvian regiment, which was badly damaged during the capture of Kazan by Colonel Kappel, apparently acted from the side of the city of Glazov.
“The fact of the Izhevsk uprising created confusion in the Soviet ranks. It was a terrible blow to the heart of Soviet power. After all, it was not the officers and generals of the old army that revolted in Izhevsk, not the capitalists or the urban bourgeoisie. The workers and peasants revolted against the "workers' and peasants' power".
The Izhevsk uprising in the rear of the Kazan group of red detachments was a mortal blow, it threatened to cut off the Soviet army, which was operating on Vyatka, Kama, Belaya, from the Kazan base. Therefore, in Moscow, the news of the Izhevsk uprising caused a panic. Trotsky's hysterical orders rained down “to level the treacherous Izhevsk and Votkinsk to the ground”, “mercilessly destroy the Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents with their families”. From Moscow, Petersburg, Kazan, communist and Latvian units were moved, given the task of clearing the Izhevsk-Votkinsk region of whites at all costs.
In Sarapul there was a strong armed flotilla of the Reds, there were also many Latvian units. Throughout August, the Reds repeatedly made attempts to land troops on the piers of Golyany and Galevo, intending to attack Izhevsk and Votkinsk from there, but all these operations ended in failure: the Reds were not able to resist the inspired and brave Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents. Under such unfavorable conditions, the rebel army had to endure continuous battles with the Reds. It was especially difficult for the Votkinsk people, who were attacked from both sides by the Sino-Latvian detachments. The forcibly mobilized peasants were driven on the offensive by the Latvians, placing machine guns in the rear. At this moment, the Reds surrounded Izhevsk and launched a decisive attack on the city from two sides. The headquarters and part of the detachments barely managed to escape on the road to Votkinsk, and thousands of residents and workers did not have time to escape and fell under the power of the Reds.
Eyewitnesses of the capture of Izhevsk by the Reds convey the following details of the massacre of civilians. On November 7, the Reds quickly broke into Izhevsk. Part of the army did not have time to escape; the soldiers dropped their rifles and ran to the factory. The Reds surrounded the plant and checked the workers. Whoever had a work ticket was released, and the rest were taken out, gathered on the church square, all were shot from machine guns. In total, about 800 people were killed on the day of the capture of the city. The bodies of the dead were transported in carts for several days and buried in huge pits in the forest near the factory lake. The next day, the Extraordinary Commission began to operate. They caught everyone who was pointed out by local communists. A few days later, the prisons and all the detention facilities were overcrowded. The arrested were lying in cellars and sheds.
The main contingent of those arrested: workers and employees of the plant. The shootings continued for more than a month. The main part in the executions was taken by the Chinese, Magyars and Latvians. The apartments of working-class families whose members served in the People's Army were completely looted. The families of the departed workers were killed. »

Moltchanoff V.M. The last white general.// An Interview with onducted by Boris Raymond. 1972 by The University of California at Berkeley. P. 39-40.
Ibid. P.45.
Ibid. P.78.
Ibid. P.80
Naumov V.M. My memories. // Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising. S. 83.
There.
UK. op. S. 86.
Efimov A.G. Izhevtsy and Votkintsy. The struggle against the Bolsheviks 1918-1920. M., 2008. S. 56.
Decree. op. pp. 66-67.
Decree. op. pp. 72-73.
Decree. op. pp. 80, 82, 87-88.

Printed analogue: Simonov D.G. Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents: adaptation of volunteers in the armed forces of Admiral A.V. Kolchak // Political adaptation of the population of Siberia in the first third of the XX century. Collection of scientific articles / Scientific editor V.I. Shishkin. Novosibirsk: Parallel, 2015, pp. 100–120.

The article deals with the issue of adaptation in the armed forces of Admiral A.V. Kolchak workers of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk factories, who took up arms against the Bolshevik authorities in August 1918. It is shown that the initial adaptation of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents in the Kolchak army was difficult and ambiguous. Due to the lack of development at the state level of mechanisms for attracting volunteers to the troops and the conditions for their service, the status of Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents was not determined and caused the collapse of their organization. The White command clearly underestimated the role of volunteers in the civil war, and in military construction they relied on mass mobilization of the population into the troops. In May - June 1919, during the decisive battles on the Eastern Front, the Izhevsk brigade and the Votkinsk division were excluded from the Kolchak armed forces, which was one of the factors in their defeat. Measures aimed at the adaptation of volunteers in the army began to be taken only in the context of the general collapse of the White movement in eastern Russia.

During the civil war, Russian society was in a split state. This split, a powerful catalyst for which was the collapse of the monarchical state, took place in a variety of directions, due to socio-political, socio-economic and socio-cultural contradictions in the life of pre-revolutionary Russia. The widest sections of the population were drawn into active military-political activity, often against their will.

In the context of civil confrontation, a number of centers of political attraction emerged, claiming power on a regional or national scale. Their prospects were determined not by slogans and declarations, but above all by the ability to create regular armed forces - the main success factor in the struggle. In the course of military construction, both the Soviet government and the anti-Bolshevik political regimes, in deciding the issues of manning the armed forces, relied on the forced mobilization of certain groups of the population. But the mass armies created in this way could acquire political stability and, consequently, combat effectiveness, if they had a significant stratum of ideological fighters - volunteers.

The Bolsheviks throughout the entire civil war purposefully and successfully solved this problem, making the most of the agitation and propaganda opportunities at their disposal. As a result, the Red Army had such a layer, and most of its units and formations were initially formed on the basis of volunteer detachments. By and large, the Bolsheviks managed to curb the revolutionary energy of the masses and direct it in the direction they needed.

When considering the system of manning the anti-Bolshevik armed forces in the East of Russia at the decisive stage of the civil war, a very small percentage of volunteers in them attracts attention. In this regard, the history of two volunteer formations of the armed forces of Admiral A.V. is of particular interest. Kolchak - Izhevsk and Votkinsk rifle divisions and the problem of adapting their personnel to serve in the White Army. Events related to the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising and the subsequent service of the rebels in the Russian army of Admiral A.V. Kolchak are reflected in sufficient detail in the memoirs of S.N. Lotkova, D.I. Fedichkina, A.G. Efimova, V.M. Molchanov, has been repeatedly covered in Soviet and modern Russian historiography.

A large-scale civil war in Russia began at the end of May 1918, when the troops of the Czechoslovak Corps, stationed along the Trans-Siberian Railway, began active military operations against the Soviet armed forces. By the end of August, the Czechs, together with the Russian anti-Bolshevik military formations, overthrew Soviet power throughout the entire space from the Volga to the Pacific Ocean. State power in this territory passed to two competing bodies - the Socialist-Revolutionary Committee of members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly in Samara and the Provisional Siberian Government in Omsk.

The People's Army of Komuch and the Siberian Army were initially staffed by volunteers. On June 1, 1918, "Temporary Conditions for the Formation of Siberian Volunteer Regiments in the West Siberian Military District" were published. Citizens no younger than 18 years old were accepted into the Siberian Volunteer Army, "morally unstained and who expressed their sincere readiness to faithfully serve the idea of democracy carried out by the Provisional Siberian Government." The service life was set at 6 months. All military personnel of the Siberian army received a salary from the government. The salary did not depend on the ranks, but on the positions held and was established in such amounts: an ordinary soldier - 60 rubles, a detached soldier - 75 rubles, a platoon - 90 rubles, a sergeant major - 120 rubles, in addition, uniforms were to be issued to all servicemen and maintenance: for families - a state-owned apartment or apartment money, for families - a monthly allowance of 100 rubles.

According to the "Provisional Rules on the Organization and Service of the People's Army", approved by Komuch on June 17, 1918, the army was recruited from volunteers with a minimum service life of three months. Access to the ranks of the army was open to all citizens of Russia at least 17 years old, "ready to give their strength and life to defend the Motherland and Freedom." All volunteers, without exception, were placed on full allowance and were supposed to receive 15 rubles. monthly salary. For the duration of their service, they were also owed money: ordinary soldiers - 1 rub. per day, separated commanders - 2 rubles, platoon commanders - 3 rubles. In addition to salaries and per diems, each family volunteer was promised an allowance of 100 rubles, and those who had more than three children - 150 rubles.

The Provisional Siberian Government and Komuch had different attitudes towards the role of volunteerism in the anti-Bolshevik struggle. Already in July 1918, the head of the military ministry of the Provisional Siberian Government, General A.N. Grishin-Almazov came to the conclusion that, in view of the insignificant influx of volunteers, it was impossible to create an army capable of winning a civil war. Therefore, he made a bet on the calls of recruits. It was the young soldiers of 1898-1899. birth, both numerically and qualitatively, made up the combat power of the Siberian, and then the Russian army.

The leaders of Komuch also initiated a mass recruitment of young people into the People's Army, but believed that the troops formed in this way could only be used in the fight against an external enemy - Germany and Austria-Hungary. To participate in military operations against the Red Army, that is, to participate in the civil war, only volunteer units were intended. However, Komuch did not make any noticeable efforts to attract volunteers to the army.

The anti-Bolshevik uprising in the Izhevsk-Votkinsk region, which broke out in August 1918, was a notable event in the initial stage of a large-scale civil war in Russia. The centers of the uprising were Izhevsk and Votkinsk, which housed large state-owned defense plants - at the Izhevsk and Votkinsk plants in May 1918, respectively, 26.7 and 6.3 thousand workers were employed, the basis of which were highly qualified personnel.

The danger of this uprising for the Soviet government was manifested not only in the military, but also in the ideological sense, since the workers, representatives of the social stratum, considered the support of the Bolsheviks, stood at the head of the counter-revolutionary movement. At the time of the highest rise, the uprising covered a territory with a population of more than 1 million people, and the number of the rebel army reached 25 thousand. The 2nd Red Army, one of the five armies of the Soviet Eastern Front, was created specifically to put down this uprising.

The history of the uprising is as follows. From the very first days of the revolution of 1917, a Soviet of Workers' Deputies was formed in Izhevsk. With the seizure of state power in Russia by the Bolsheviks in Izhevsk, on the basis of this Soviet, sharp frictions began to occur between the workers and representatives of the new government. Elections to the Izhevsk Soviet of Workers' Deputies always produced a composition of deputies that the Bolsheviks did not want. The last re-elections of the Soviet were held in June 1918 and once again gave a majority of non-party deputies. Then the Bolsheviks summoned a military detachment from Kazan, which dispersed the Soviet of Workers' Deputies and declared the Executive Committee, consisting only of Bolsheviks, to be the plenipotentiary authority in Izhevsk. After a number of atrocities committed by the Bolsheviks, the consolidation of the active part of the population began in Izhevsk to counteract the Bolshevik terror. Thus, the “Union of Front-line Soldiers” arose, which united officers, military officials and soldiers demobilized from the old Russian army. The main reason for the adhesion of this organization was the rumors about the upcoming mobilization of front-line soldiers in the ranks of the Red Army. A similar "Union of Front-line Soldiers" was formed in Votkinsk.

"Union of front-line soldiers" of Izhevsk in 1918

On August 7, 1918, telegraphic news arrived in Izhevsk about the capture of Kazan by units of the Czechoslovak Corps and the Komuch People's Army. On the same day, the Bolsheviks called the workers to a rally and announced an order to mobilize into the ranks of the Red Army all former servicemen who arrived from the fronts of the 1st World War. The front-line soldiers, according to a decision they had previously made, declared that they would not go anywhere from Izhevsk without weapons and uniforms. In response, the Bolsheviks began to arrest the leaders of the front-line soldiers and sentence them to death. The next day, August 8, the factory horn signaled the start of an anti-Bolshevik uprising in Izhevsk. Preparing for the performance, the workers stocked up with rifles in advance and kept them in their homes. 7 thousand rifles were captured at the factory. By evening, the city was completely cleared of the Bolsheviks.

In the very first appeal to the population, it was announced that Izhevsk recognized the Committee of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly as the only and legitimate supreme power in Russia. The Local Council was declared "only a class workers' organization." State power in the territory liberated from the Bolsheviks passed to the Kama Committee of the members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly. The organization of this authoritative body was taken over by the Socialist-Revolutionary V.I., who was in Izhevsk. Buzanov, member of the Constituent Assembly, elected from the Vyatka province. On August 10, members of the "Prikamsky Komuch" were co-opted into the Executive Committee of the Izhevsk Council of Workers' Deputies. The command of all the armed forces operating against the Soviet troops was entrusted to Colonel D.I. Fedichkin, who received the status of commander of the Izhevsk People's Army.

Already on August 8, a delegation from the Votkinsk "Union of Front-line Soldiers" arrived in Izhevsk, asking them to send weapons to Votkinsk as soon as possible. In response to this request, a company of 250 people was formed in Izhevsk under the command of Lieutenant Colonel A.A. Vlasov, and each fighter had to carry two rifles. On August 17, Izhevsk approached Votkinsk and attacked it from the direction from which the Soviet troops did not expect a threat. At the same time, the Votkinsk front-line soldiers attacked the Red Army from the rear. After a three-hour street fight, the Reds were defeated and fled. Captain G.N. was appointed military commandant of Votkinsk. Yuriev, member of the factory committee.

On September 7, 1918, the Kama Komuch authorized the creation of the headquarters of the Kama People's Army and appointed D.I. Fedichkin, who retained direct command of the Izhevsk People's Army. The Votkinsk People's Army was commanded by Captain G.N. Yuryev, who from October 20, 1918, after the resignation of Fedichkin, became the Commander-in-Chief of the Kama region. In a fairly short time, it was possible to create combat-ready armed forces, provided with weapons and led by experienced and authoritative commanders among the local population. The initial procedure for accepting orders provided for their mandatory approval by three persons: the Commander-in-Chief of the Kama People's Army, an authorized representative of the Union of Front-line Soldiers and a member of the local Council of Workers' Deputies. As the scale of the uprising grew, the army was reorganized. In September-October, companies in the People's Army were consolidated into larger military units up to and including brigades. By September 13, the number of the rebel army amounted to about 15 thousand people.

In early September, the Soviet troops of the Eastern Front went on the offensive and defeated units of the Czechoslovak Corps and the Komuch People's Army. On September 11, Kazan was taken by them, and on October 10, Samara. At the same time, the onslaught against the Kama rebels intensified. Formations of the 2nd Red Army under the command of V.I. On October 5, Shorin was taken by the city of Sarapul, and on the morning of November 8, as a result of fierce fighting, they entered Izhevsk. On November 11, due to the impossibility of defending the city, the rebels left Votkinsk without a fight. Thus, time was won for the construction of a pontoon bridge across the river. Kama, along which the main forces of the Kamka People's Army crossed to the right bank on November 14. In total, about 15 thousand soldiers of the Votkinsk People's Army and the same number of members of their families, as well as about 8 thousand combat-ready Izhevsk, left for Kama.

During the entire period of the struggle from August to November 1918, the Kama rebels had no permanent connection with either Samara or Ufa, where the headquarters of the Komuch People's Army were located. It was not possible to establish contact with the Siberian army, the closest units of which were operating in the Krasnoufimsk region at that time. Both the leaders and the rank and file of the rebels never left a feeling of resentment for the fact that they were not provided with any help from outside and left to the mercy of fate.

Meanwhile, major political events were taking place in the east of the country. At the end of September 1918, at the State Conference in Ufa, the Provisional All-Russian Government (Directorate) was formed, headed by the Socialist-Revolutionary N.D. Avksentiev, in connection with which Komuch and the Provisional Siberian Government were subject to self-abolition. Omsk was chosen as the seat of the new government. However, the predominance of the Social Revolutionaries in the new power structure provoked a response from military circles. On November 18, a coup d'etat took place in Omsk, as a result of which the Directory was overthrown, and Admiral A.V. came to power. Kolchak, proclaimed Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

The Social Revolutionaries, relying on the still functioning political, administrative and military organizational structures of Komuch, tried to organize opposition to the advancing military dictatorship. And above all, they sought to win over to their side parts of the former People's Army.

Head of the Department of Internal Affairs Komucha P.D. Klimushkin attributed Izhevsk and Votkinsk to the troops, which, in his words, "we could well have." At the same time, he, obviously exaggerating, estimated their number at 20 and 10 thousand people, respectively, and only 30 thousand out of 40-45 thousand people on whom the Socialist-Revolutionaries could count. Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs Komucha M.A. Vedenyapin also characterized the Izhevsk and Votkinsk people as "our devoted units."

However, the hopes of the Social Revolutionaries for the support of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk people in their struggle against Kolchak were purely speculative and did not take into account the real mood of the officers and soldiers. According to A.G. Efimova, the commander of the Izhevsk brigade, captain Zhuravlev, a protege of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, spoke out against Kolchak at a meeting of officers and called for support for the eliminated Directory, but no one heard him. The entire composition of the brigade - both officers and soldiers - supported Kolchak without any disputes.

Soon, at the initiative of Captain Yuryev, a similar meeting of officers was held in the Votkinsk Rifle Division. When Yuryev announced Admiral Kolchak's accession to the post of Supreme Ruler, the Votkinsk people unanimously responded to this with a thunderous cheer. The delegation from Izhevsk, represented by Captain Zuev, who was present at the same time, immediately reported that they already had a meeting and that they also decided to follow Kolchak.

Under these conditions, staff captain Zhuravlev arbitrarily, without informing the Votkinsk people, removed the brigade from their positions and took it to the area of the Ufa corps, whose commander, General S.N. Lupov did not dare to recognize Kolchak for a long time. But within a few days after the coup d'état, almost all commanders and senior commanders officially recognized Kolchak as the Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The commander of the Izhevsk brigade, staff captain Zhuravlev, was one of the few, if not the only commander who remained on the side of the Directory. On December 13, 1918, he and several of his accomplices, having seized 2 million rubles, disappeared from the brigade. The search for him was unsuccessful.

At the end of December 1918, during the reorganization of the anti-Bolshevik armed forces, two armies were formed by Kolchak's order - the Siberian, under the command of General R. Gaida, and the Western, General M.V. Khanzhin. Unauthorized, politically oriented orders of staff captain Zhuravlev led to the fact that Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents, according to their territorial deployment, ended up in different armies. Parts of the Izhevsk region from January 3, 1919 were included in the Western Army, and parts of the Votkinsk region from January 1 were included in the Siberian Army.

At the same time, there were changes in the leadership of the rebel formations. Instead of G.N. Yuryev was appointed Colonel N.P. Albokrinov, who took command of the Votkinsk division on January 11, 1919. Captain Zuev, who temporarily commanded the Izhevsk people after Zhuravlev's flight, was replaced by Colonel V.M. Molchanov, who arrived from the headquarters of the Western Army.

Izhevsk and Votkinsk people officially, de jure, based on the previously adopted relevant provisions of the Provisional Siberian Government and the Committee of Members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, were not volunteers of the Russian army. They took up arms regardless of the calls of those authorities that were formed in the Volga region, in the Urals and in Siberia in the summer of 1918. The anti-Bolshevism of the Kama rebels was more of a moral-psychological than a political-ideological character. This explains why they were ready to fight the Bolsheviks under any political banner. It was with the appearance in the ranks of the Russian army of Izhevsk and Votkinsk, whose status as military personnel did not fit into the existing schemes of military development, Admiral Kolchak officially allowed volunteers to be accepted into the troops for a period until the liberation from the Bolsheviks of those settlements whose inhabitants they were.

This order was intended to at least somehow formalize the actual volunteer status of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents and ensure their further participation in active military operations against the Soviet troops. There were no other legal grounds to force the Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents to remain in the army. They had a complete and indisputable right to switch to the position of civilians at any time. And the commanders of the Siberian and Western armies did not have every reason to demand from them the unquestioning execution of military orders. The promises and guarantees voiced in the orders by the commanders were connected with this conflict.

In an order for the Siberian Army dated January 15, 1919, General Gaida, addressing the military personnel of the Votkinsk division, made a promise: “After the occupation of the factories, you will be able to return to your families and then only those who wish to continue the fight with weapons in their hands will be enlisted in the ranks of the division, so that together with other valiant units to continue the great cause of the liberation of the Motherland. On January 20, "appreciating the merits to the Motherland of the former Votkinsk People's Army," General Gaida ordered that the soldiers of the Votkinsk division be given maintenance according to the salaries established for the volunteers of the Siberian Army.

On February 21, 1919, General Khanzhin, in an order for the army, calling on the people of Izhevsk to new exploits in the name of the Motherland, made a promise:

“After the liberation of the Izhevsk plant, you will be given the opportunity to return to your families, and only those who wish will remain in the ranks of the valiant Izhevsk brigade, in order to continue the great work of liberating the Motherland from red traitors with arms in hand, together with other parts of the army.”

“The stupidest mistake,” General V.M. called these orders. Molchanov.

Such a frivolous attitude of the army commanders to the future of the volunteer formations subordinate to them is apparently due to the fact that at that time, Kolchak's orders initiated a mass mobilization of front-line soldiers of the 1st World War into the troops of the Siberian and Western armies, as a result of which the total strength of the active army was supposed to be increased by May 1919 up to 600 thousand people. In this mass of military personnel, the role and place of the Kama volunteers did not seem significant.

Gaida and Khanzhin could well not have promised to send the Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents home if by that time volunteer service had been institutionalized on a nationwide scale. However, the military ministry of the Russian government could not resolve this issue for more than three months. Only on February 25, 1919, the Council of Ministers of the Russian government adopted the "Temporary regulation on volunteer service in the ground forces."

According to the regulation, Russian citizens aged at least 17 years old were accepted into the troops as volunteers for a period of at least six months. Members of committees and councils of political parties, as well as persons deprived of the right to enter the civil service by a court sentence, found guilty of theft or fraud, who were under investigation or court, brought to an inquiry on charges of state crimes or involvement, could not be volunteers. to them. During the service, volunteers were provided with all types of allowances established for compulsory service soldiers, but received an increased monetary salary: privates - by 50%, commanders of squads and platoons, as well as sergeants - by 150%. In addition, upon entering the army, volunteers received 200 rubles at a time, and after each six-month period of service, respectively, 300, 400, 500 and 600 rubles. Families of volunteers were given a monthly ration of 100 rubles. and housing money in the amount of 1/3 of the salary received by the heads of families ex officio.

There was another problem as well. Votkintsy, being part of the Siberian army, had a direct opportunity to participate in the liberation of the Votkinsk region from the Bolsheviks. Izhevsk did not get such an opportunity, since the offensive zone of the Western Army was located much south of Izhevsk. At the end of March 1919, the Quartermaster General of the Western Army, Colonel A.Ya. Naryshkin reported to the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief:

“All thoughts and desires of Izhevsk residents are directed to the city of Izhevsk. If we let them into the rear of Sarapul through Menzelinsk to Izhevsk, we will liquidate the Sarapul Bolshevik army in the shortest possible time, unless, of course, there is due assistance from the Siberian army from the Osa region.

At the same time, Naryshkin asked the Headquarters to resolve the issue initiated by the army headquarters on the transfer of the Izhevsk brigade from the Western army to the Siberian army and its direction through Menzelinsk to Sarapul. In return, Naryshkin asked to send a separate Omsk brigade to the Western Army, which, by order of the Headquarters, was to become part of the Siberian Army.

“Things would move forward a lot,” Naryshkin concluded his report, “mainly bearing in mind the high rise of the Izhevsk people and their faith in success. Every day they ask to be allowed into the rear of the Reds, but we keep them in reserve. Resolve this issue as soon as possible, then Sarapul's days are numbered."

This rotation was not carried out - the proposal of the headquarters of the Western Army was belated, since the Omsk brigade was already fighting on the front of the Siberian army. The main thing was that the headquarters of the Siberian army was very skeptical about the proposal of the headquarters of the Western Army, saying that the Gaida troops themselves would cope with the task of defeating the 2nd Red Army.

During the offensive of the Kolchak armies in March - April 1919, the Izhevsk and Votkinsk people showed brilliant fighting qualities, and the Izhevsk brigade established itself as one of the combat-ready and successful formations. The total number of prisoners and trophy weapons captured by the Izhevsk people significantly exceeded their own combat strength. But, according to Colonel A.G. Efimov, when parts of the Siberian army liberated Izhevsk, “Izhevsk residents began to gather home. It was natural and understandable. There at the factory they left their homes and families […]. Finally, they had a promise from the army commander to let them go home as soon as Izhevsk was liberated.” But, "General Khanzhin did not attach much importance to his promise and was going to send the Izhevsk people for a new strike to the south, even further from their native places."

Since the requests and desires of the Izhevsk people were not satisfied, they themselves took action. In the twentieth of April, the commander of the 2nd Ufa Corps, General S.N. Voitsekhovsky was forced to report to the headquarters of the Western Army that the Izhevsk brigade refused to go to the front, while it was given the most important task for the entire army to capture the area of the city of Buzuluk. Concluding the report, Voitsekhovsky stated:

“Of course, there is no real force to fight them, and this is hardly acceptable for reasons of a moral and political nature. Izhevsk demand on the basis of the order of the gene. Khanzhin to let them go after the capture of Izhevsk by our troops ... General Khanzhin gave the soldiers a verbal promise when visiting the hospital that the brigade would be withdrawn to Izhevsk to be reorganized into a division.

The refusal of the brigade to fulfill the combat order was reported to the Supreme Ruler, since no persuasion and exhortation from the local authorities helped. On April 29, Kolchak's resolution followed: “I allow the Izhevsk brigade to be withdrawn to the area of the Izhevsk plant for reorganization immediately - after the advance of the Western Army units to the river. Volga and occupations of the city of Samara. At the same time, in the name of the commander of the brigade, General V.M. Molchanov received a telegram signed by the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, in which it was reported that Kolchak ordered the brigade to immediately comply with all orders of the commander of the Western Army, and if the Izhevsk people left without permission, they would be met by the shock regiments of the Siberian army, General Gaida.

The threat backfired. On the same day, April 29, 1919, having lost hope of obtaining official permission, the Izhevsk people “began to leave without permission. Company after company, in perfect order, under the command of sergeants or non-commissioned officers, went to the head of the brigade, said goodbye to him and headed home. Thus, the Western army lost about four thousand of its best fighters overnight.

On April 30, the chief of staff of the 2nd Ufa Corps telegraphed to the headquarters of the Western Army:

“All Izhevsk residents have left and there is no hope of returning and they are unlikely to catch up with them ... The promise to stop them by force made them not go, but flee to Izhevsk ...”.

At the same time, the corps commander reported to Khanzhin that there was no longer any Izhevsk brigade left in the corps. The departure of the Izhevsk people frustrated his plan - to leave the Izhevsk brigade with one regiment of the 8th division in the entire sector of the offensive of the corps from the city of Chistopol to the city of Sergievsk, and to throw all the rest of the corps forces in a southwestern direction to capture the city of Samara.

To resolve the situation, the Headquarters could not develop any other measures than repressive ones. On May 4, 1919, General P.G. Burlin sent a telegram addressed to the commanders of the Siberian and Western armies: “Some of the workers in the ranks of the Izhevsk brigade arbitrarily left their units and headed home to the Izhevsk plant area without the permission of their command staff. The Supreme Ruler and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief ordered all the aforementioned workers arriving in the area of the Siberian Army without the documents corresponding from their combatant authorities on dismissal on vacation, on transfer to the primitive state, on transfer to the reserve, with dismissal from service altogether, or, finally, on enrollment in factory service as qualified military service workers - not to be allowed to go to the right bank of the Kama, to concentrate on the left bank of the Kama at points at the discretion of the commander of the Siberian army and to be brought to justice by his order. The indicated command of the Supreme Ruler is to be announced to all units of the Izhevsk brigade, the Votkinsk division and the entire population of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk plants.

A similar story took place with the Votkinsk rifle division, with the exception that the commander of the Siberian army, General Gaida, tried to avoid conflict and on May 10, 1919 officially allowed all soldiers of the Votkinsk division to be transferred to the reserve and sent home. Soldiers who wished to remain in the ranks of the division were invited to join the troops on the basis of the "Temporary regulation on the service of volunteers" dated February 25, 1919.

The collapse of the Izhevsk separate rifle brigade and the Votkinsk rifle division, which had a total of about 13 thousand fighters ( see table), was one of the most important factors in the loss of the strategic initiative by the armies of Admiral A.V. Kolchak in May - June 1919 and their subsequent defeat.

Table. The combat composition of the Votkinsk Rifle Division and Izhevsk
separate rifle brigade on April 1, 1919 *

Namenovaneitheri parts	officers	Soldier				machine guns	guns
Namenovaneitheri parts	officers	Shtykov	saber	Other	Total	machine guns	guns
Votkinsk Rifle Division
1st Votkinsk Rifle Regiment	29	1929	–	509	2438	19	–
2nd Saygat Rifle Regiment	21	1220	–	460	1680	8	–
3rd Osinsky Rifle Regiment	30	1003	–	455	1458	11	–
4th Votkinsk Rifle Regiment	29	1162	–	365	1527	9	–
Votkinsk Artillery Battalion	15	–	–	235	235	–	8
Cavalry in division	9	–	1021	45	1066	5	–
Votkinsk reserve battalion	18	302	–	294	596	–	–
Total in division	151	5616	1021	2363	9000	52	8
Izhevsk separate rifle brigade
1st Izhevsk Rifle Regiment	74	1303	–	311	1614	22	–
2nd Izhevsk Rifle Regiment	71	1553	–	506	2059	23	–
Izhevsk Cavalry Division	7	–	195	–	195	–	–
Izhevsk Artillery Battalion	19	–	–	301	301	–	8
Total in the brigade	171	2856	195	1118	4169	45	8
Total in parts	322	8472	1216	3481	13169	97	16

* Compiled according to: RGVA. F. 39500. Op. 1. D. 52. L. 3–4, 9–10.

If Khanzhin's plan to send Izhevsk to Buzuluk at the end of April 1919 was implemented, the concentration of units of the Southern Group of the Soviet Eastern Front could be upset, and its counteroffensive in May could not take place. In the case of the implementation of Voitsekhovsky's plan to advance the Izhevsk people in the Menzelinsky direction, the Whites would have been able to fend off the attack undertaken by the Reds in the second half of May at the junction of the Western and Siberian armies.

At the same time, General Gaida was planning an offensive by the forces of the Northern Group of the Siberian Army against Glazov and the Southern Group against Kazan. Parts of the 8th Army Kama Corps, the only combat-ready formation of which was the Votkinsk division, were supposed to remain directly subordinate to the army commander through Votkinsk to provide communication between the two groups. In connection with the demobilization of the Votkinsk people on May 3, General Gaida was forced to transfer the section of the front that was occupied by them to the troops of the Northern and Southern groups, stretching their left and right flanks, respectively. As a result, the White offensive launched in mid-May was carried out by smaller forces and did not bring the expected success.

During February - May 1919, in the rear of the Siberian and Western armies, an accelerated formation of reserve formations was carried out, including the Siberian shock and the 1st Volga army corps. Their combat strength was about three times higher than that of the Izhevsk brigade and the Votkinsk division. However, after going to the front in May 1919, the "drummers" and "Volzhans", despite their large numbers, showed weak stability in battle and were unable to carry out the combat missions entrusted to them. At the same time, a number of their units and subunits voluntarily went over to the side of the Red Army.

According to Colonel A.G. Efimov, after the departure of the Izhevsk people, 180 officers and a small number of soldiers remained in the brigade. In the first days of May, about 2 thousand people arrived to replenish it, mainly young, untrained Bashkirs. From the remnants of the old composition and the new contingent, the 1st Separate Rifle Brigade was formed, which was already thrown into battle on May 9th. As A.G. Efimov, “one of the battalions was attacked by the red Cossacks of Kashirin. Dancing in charge on their horses, they caused a panic among the young Bashkirs, who threw themselves on the ground and buried their faces in the mud. Officers and machine gunners were cut down." General V.M. Molchanov reported on the incompetence of his formation and received permission to take him to the rear, to the reserve of the Western Army.

The Votkinsk rifle division after demobilization remained on the lists of the Siberian army, but in the statements of the combat strength of the army in May-June 1919 it was listed as being on reorganization without indicating the available bayonets, sabers, guns and machine guns. In connection with the collapse of the division, by order of the Siberian Army of June 27, the 8th Army Kama Corps was disbanded, and the 15th Votkinsk and 16th Sarapul divisions included in it were consolidated into one 15th Votkinsk rifle division. The regiments of the division received the names of the 57th Votkinsky, 58th Kazansky, 59th Laishevsky and 60th Chistopolsky.

Meanwhile, at the end of May 1919, the troops of the 2nd and 3rd armies of the Soviet Eastern Front switched to active offensive operations and, during the Sarapulo-Votkinsk operation, captured Sarapul on June 2, and by June 12 occupied the Izhevsk-Votkinsk industrial region. In a letter from Ensign of the 14th Irtysh Siberian Rifle Regiment Stepanenko, sent on July 2, 1919, to the Supreme Ruler, Admiral Kolchak, interesting thoughts were expressed about the reasons for the retreat of the Whites from the Kama region. In his opinion, the situation at the front could have been improved on the eve of the surrender of Sarapul, when the Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents, “seeing that they were also threatened,” turned to the commander of the Southern Group of the Siberian Army, General G.A. Verzhbitsky with a request to give them weapons to protect the factories. “These,” Stepanenok notes, were the same people who had already fought along with us against the Reds, but their proposal was rejected.

According to him, "the commanders came to their senses" when the Reds took Sarapul and were 20 miles from Izhevsk. Then the commander of the Consolidated Siberian Division, Colonel N.N. Casagrandi appealed to those who had previously offered their services, but it was too late. Although the Izhevsk residents responded to the appeal, 2/3 of them, having taken their property, wives and children, had already left the plant, and the rest also had to save their families. “If, Stepanenok concludes, they were formed on time, when their families were sitting in their native huts, there would be a different picture, and they would have more desire to protect their property.”

At this time, the 1st Separate Rifle Brigade, located in the reserve of the Western Army, north of the station. Berdyaush, the people of Izhevsk began to return. According to A.G. Efimov, "fate forced them to abandon the plant for the second time." Many were detained by Colonel Kazagrandi, having replenished his Siberian units. But most of the Izhevsk people, especially those who had previously been in the ranks of the brigade, sought to return to their former units to their commanders. “They made their way alone and in groups, sometimes units of the old composition. Lieutenant Shmakov, who went on vacation to the factory, gathered his 12th company of the first regiment and brought it in full strength. The return of the Izhevsk, although not in the same number, immediately restored the brigade's combat capability.

General K.V. provided great assistance to General Molchanov in restoring the brigade. Sakharov, who replaced Khanzhin as commander of the Western Army on June 22. According to the army order of June 29, 1919, the 1st Separate Rifle Brigade again became known as Izhevsk. By order of July 29, the brigade was deployed to the Izhevsk rifle division of four regiments. At the same time, the brigade was not supposed to be sent to the rear for reorganization, and new regiments were to be created directly at the front.

Not only ordinary soldiers, but also former commanders of Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents began to return to the ranks. In June 1919, Colonel G.N. Yuryev was appointed to the post of head of the 15th Votkinsk Rifle Division. Then Colonel D.I. Fedichkin was appointed to the post of assistant chief of the Izhevsk Rifle Brigade. The high command took a number of measures to restore and further strengthen the Izhevsk and Votkinsk divisions. By order of the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and Minister of War of the Russian Government, General M.K. Diterichs dated August 22, 1919, all volunteers from Izhevsk and Votkinsk, who were in various parts of the armies, were ordered to be immediately sent to the Izhevsk and Votkinsk rifle divisions. In the city of Tomsk, Colonel Fedichkin organized a special point for the reception of volunteers, through which only 2.8 thousand soldiers were sent to the Izhevsk division by the end of October 1919.

The people of Izhevsk began to enjoy increased attention from the Supreme Ruler. On August 22, Kolchak personally arrived at the location of the division, bringing gifts with him on several trucks - cigarettes, canned food, jam, cocoa, etc. The admiral held a review and presented awards to officers and soldiers. By his order of August 22, the chief of staff of the division, Captain A.G. Efimov was promoted to lieutenant colonel for military distinctions, and veterans of the division - commanders of the 1st and 2nd Izhevsk regiments, staff captains D.I. Mikhailov and V.P. Lyapunov - captain. In total, on this day, 67 officers of the division were promoted, and 29 cadets, ensigns and non-commissioned officers were promoted to the first officer rank of ensign.

According to A.G. Efimov, “After the ceremonial march, Admiral Kolchak gathered the Izhevsk people closer to him and addressed them with a speech. He thanked for the glorious military deeds and selfless service to the Motherland. He tried to explain the goal of the fight against the Bolsheviks, he wanted to say something about the condition of the workers, but he became confused and embarrassed. The people of Izhevsk tried to rescue the admiral, voices were heard: “No need to speak!”, “We believe you!”, “We will go with you to the end!” etc., […] his sincerity and desire to find a way to a soldier's heart were understandable and made more impression than if he had delivered a brilliant speech of an experienced orator used to speaking.

In late August - early September 1919, the Izhevsk division, during the counteroffensive of the troops of the white Eastern Front, achieved a major military success, and on September 9 it was again visited by the Supreme Ruler. He announced the awarding of General Molchanov with the Order of St. George IV class, and the division with the St. George Banner. The order to award the division, signed by Kolchak on September 16, 1919, said: “The Izhevsk Rifle Division, formed from volunteer workers of Izhevsk, and recently other factories of the Urals, since its existence, has invariably shown high valor and exemplary stamina in cruel fight against the enemy, for the benefit of the resurgent Russia. The Izhevsk Rifle Division marked itself with especially heroic, combat exploits during the period from August 30 to September 5 of this year in the battles near the settlements of Bogaty, Dubrovny, Sundzharsky and the villages of Bolshoe and Maloye Priyutnoye, when it broke the stubbornness of the enemy with especially cruel blows, inflicting enormous losses on him, and, captured a large number of trophies and prisoners, forcing the enemy to flee to the West. In retribution of valiant heroic merits, courage and courage, I welcome the Izhevsk Rifle Division St. George's Banner ....

In all battles, the Izhevsk and Votkinsk divisions, as before, showed brilliant fighting qualities. In late 1919 - early 1920, in the conditions of the collapse of Kolchak's Russian army, these two formations, among the few, retained their organization and combat capability. During the Siberian ice campaign, the Izhevsk division constantly acted as a rearguard of the retreating army, ensuring the exit of its remnants in Transbaikalia in February - March 1920. The Votkinsk division during this retreat was the only formation that retained all of its artillery. Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents remained implacable fighters against Bolshevism until the end of the civil war in the Far East at the end of 1922.

The initial adaptation of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk people in the armed forces of Admiral Kolchak was difficult and ambiguous. Due to the lack of development at the state level of mechanisms for attracting volunteers to the troops and the conditions for their service, the status of Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents was not determined and caused the collapse of their organization. The White command clearly underestimated the role of volunteers in the civil war, and in military construction they relied on mass mobilization of the population into the troops. In May - June 1919, during the decisive battles on the Eastern Front, the Izhevsk brigade and the Votkinsk division were excluded from the Kolchak armed forces, which was one of the factors in their defeat. Measures aimed at the adaptation of volunteers in the army began to be taken only in the context of the general collapse of the White movement in eastern Russia.

NOTES

Lotkov S.N. Kama-Votkinsky plant and its workers // Bulletin of the Society of Russian Veterans of the Great War. San Francisco. July - December 1941. No. 179−181.
Fedichkin D.I. Izhevsk uprising in the period from August 8 to October 20, 1918 // Pervopokhodnik. 1974. February. No. 17.
Efimov A.G. Izhevtsy and Votkintsy (Struggle against the Bolsheviks 1918–20). San Francisco, 1974; He is. Izhevtsy and Votkintsy. Fight against the Bolsheviks 1918–1920 M., 2008.
Molchanov V.M. The last white general. Oral memoirs, articles, letters, documents. M., 2009.
Maksimov V.A. Kulak counter-revolution and Izhevsk uprising (1918). Izhevsk, 1933; Kulikov K.I. In the battles for Soviet Udmurtia. Izhevsk, 1982;
Dmitriev P.N., Kulikov K.I. Rebellion in the Izhevsk-Votkinsk region. Izhevsk, 1992; Churakov D.O. Rebellious Proletarians: Workers' Protest in Soviet Russia (1917–1930s). M., 2007; Hare N. The Dead End of the Third Way: Essay on the Izhevsk-Votkinsk Uprising, 2012. URL: // http://scepsis.net/library/id_3338.html
GATO. F. 1362. Op. 1. D. 287. L. 93–94.
GANO. F.P. 5. Op. 5. D. 3. L. 1.
Report of a member of the Central Committee M.A. Vedenyapin to the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party on 29/IV.1919 // Anti-Bolshevik Russia. From the White Guard and emigrant archives. M., 1995. S. 47–48.
Dmitriev P.N., Kulikov K.I. Rebellion in the Izhevsk-Votkinsk region ... S. 73.
Churakov D.O. Rebellious proletarians ... S. 197.
Fedichkin D.I. Izhevsk uprising...
Tsvetkov V.Zh. White business in Russia. 1917–1918 (formation and evolution of the political structures of the White movement in Russia). Part 1. M., 2008. S. 339–342.
FedichkinDmitry Ivanovich(1885–1966) - Colonel in the old army. In the rank of non-commissioned officer, he participated in the Russo-Japanese War, was awarded the St. George Cross IV and III Art. He graduated from the Kazan Infantry Junker School (1908). He served in the 6th Trans-Caspian Rifle Battalion. In 1911–1917 was in the ranks of the 13th Turkestan Rifle Regiment. Awarded the Order of St. George IV Art. (1916). August 13 - October 23, 1918 - Commander of the Izhevsk People's Army From December 3, 1918 - commandant of the city of Tomsk. By order of the troops of the Western Army dated June 24, 1919, the assistant chief of the 1st separate rifle Izhevsk brigade (then - the division) was appointed. He emigrated to China, then lived in the USA. Died October 24, 1966 in San Francisco.
Fedichkin D.I. Izhevsk uprising...
Yuriev(Bimman) Georgy Nikolaevich(1876–1920) - old army captain. He graduated from the Kyiv Cadet Vladimir Corps and the Mikhailovsky Artillery School. Served in the 5th Artillery Brigade. From September 2, 1918 - Chief of Staff, October 17 - October 20, 1918 - Commander of the Votkinsk People's Army, then - Commander of all armed forces of the Kama region. For differences in battles by orders of adm. A.V. Kolchak on January 24, 1919 was promoted to lieutenant colonel and awarded the Order of St. George IV class; by order of January 29, 1919 he was promoted to colonel. In January - May 1919 he was on leave to improve his health. In May - October 1919 he commanded the 15th Votkinsk Rifle Division. October 17, 1919 enrolled in the reserve ranks at the headquarters of the Omsk military district. He was captured by the Reds near Kechug in January 1920. He was shot by order of the Yenisei GubChK in June 1920.
Kulikov K.I. In the battles for Soviet Udmurtia ... S. 41.
Tsvetkov V.Zh. White business in Russia… S. 339–342.
Karevsky A.A. On the history of the anti-Bolshevik uprising in Izhevsk and Votkinsk // Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising. Moscow: Posev, 2000, pp. 5–15.
Korobeinikov A.V. Votkinsk shipbuilding and the Civil War. Izhevsk, 2012. S. 106.
Klimushkin P.D. Civil war on the Volga. Part 2. Liquidation of democracy. Memories. Prague, 1926 // Anti-Bolshevik Russia ... S. 103.
Report of a member of the Central Committee M.A. Vedenyapin to the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party on 29/IV.1919 // Anti-Bolshevik Russia… S. 75.
Efimov A.G. Izhevtsy and Votkintsy ... S. 94–98.
RGVA. F. 39499. Op. 1. D. 16. L. 118; F. 39736. Op. 1. D. 140. L. 14.
AlbocrinovNikolai Petrovich(1886–1920) - lieutenant colonel (1917) He graduated from the Alexander Military School (1907). He served in the 3rd Pernovsky Grenadier Regiment. Awarded the Order of St. George IV Art. (1916). In the summer of 1918 he served on mobilization in the Red Army; in autumn he went over to the side of the Votkinsk People's Army. From October 1918 - Chief of Staff of the Votkinsk People's Army. By order of the troops of the Votkinsk People's Army of December 1, 1918, he was approved with the rank of colonel. From January 16 to May 1919 - head of the Votkinsk rifle division, then - assistant chief of the 15th Votkinsk rifle division. For differences in battles by order of adm. A.V. Kolchak on May 16, 1919 was awarded the Order. St. Vladimir III Art. with swords; by order of July 22, 1919 he was promoted to major general. He surrendered to the Reds near Krasnoyarsk. Shot in Tomsk.
RGVA. F. 39736. Op. 1. D. 140. L. 14.
MolchanovViktorin Mikhailovich(1886–1975) - lieutenant colonel (1917) He graduated from the Moscow (Alekseevsky) military school (1906). In 1906–1908 served in the 2nd Caucasian sapper battalion, in 1908-1910. - in the 2nd East Siberian sapper battalion, in 1910-1914. - in the 6th Siberian sapper battalion, in 1914-1916. - in the 5th Siberian sapper battalion. In 1916–1917 - commander of an engineering company of the 3rd Siberian Rifle Division, in 1917–1918. - Headquarters officer for assignments and office work at the corps engineer of the VI Siberian Army. corps. In September-October 1918 - commanded the anti-Bolshevik Alnash squad and the Yelabuga people's army, then - the commander of the 32nd Kama Rifle Regiment. From January 1919 to April 1920 - head of the Izhevsk separate rifle brigade (division). For differences in battles by order of adm. A.V. Kolchak of February 9, 1919 was promoted to colonel, by order of April 20, 1919 - to major general. September 11, 1919 awarded the Order of St. George IV Art. In 1920–1922 - Commander of the 3rd Corps of the Far Eastern Army. By order of ataman G.M. Semenov on June 30, 1920 promoted to lieutenant general. Emigrated to the USA. Died in San Francisco.
GAAC. F. 252. Op. 1. D. 21. L. 109 (telegram from the Chief of Staff of the Siberian Army dated December 5, 1918)
RGVA. F. 39736. Op. 1. D. 140. L. 12 a, 17.
RGVA. F. 39624. Op. 1. D. 137. L. 94. The full text of the order is given by A.A. Petrov in his preface to the book: Efimov A.G. Izhevtsy and Votkintsy. The fight against the Bolsheviks. 1918–1920 M., 2008. S. 29.
Molchanov V.M. The last white general. Oral memoirs, articles, letters, documents. M., 2009. S. 125.
GANO. F. P. 5. Op. 2. D. 1506. L. 7–8.
Eikhe G.H. Kolchak's Ufa adventure. M., 1960. S. 192–193.
Efimov A.G. Izhevtsy and Votkintsy ... S. 120.
Eikhe G.H. Ufa adventure of Kolchak ... S. 193-194.
Efimov A.G. Izhevtsy and Votkintsy ... S. 120.
Eikhe G.H. Ufa adventure of Kolchak ... S. 194.
RGVA. F. 39736. Op. 1. D. 11. L. 28.
RGVA. F.39736. Op. 1. D. 140. L. 185.
RGVA. F. 39736. Op. 1. D. 58. L. 181; D. 59. L. 8.
Efimov A.G. Izhevtsy and Votkintsy ... S. 122.
RGVA. F. 39736. Op. 1. D. 140. L. 250.
Letters to the authorities in the era of revolution and civil war (March 1917 - November 1919) / Comp. and scientific ed. IN AND. Shishkin. Novosibirsk, 2014. S. 204.
Efimov A.G. Izhevtsy and Votkintsy ... S. 140, 142, 165.
Russian army. 1919. August 24.
GA RF. F. 182. Op. 1. D. 59. L. 18.
Russian army. 1919. September 21.
Efimov A.G. Izhevtsy and Votkintsy ... S. 167.
Russian army. 1919. October 16.

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St. George banner of the Izhevsk division. Ural workers in Kolchak's army Votkinsk division

Table. The combat composition of the Votkinsk Rifle Division and Izhevsk
separate rifle brigade on April 1, 1919 *

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Table. The combat composition of the Votkinsk Rifle Division and Izhevsk separate rifle brigade on April 1, 1919 *

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Table. The combat composition of the Votkinsk Rifle Division and Izhevsk
separate rifle brigade on April 1, 1919 *